1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fold and pivot seat assembly for an automotive vehicle, and more particularly, to a riser assembly that allows movement of the seat assembly between a seating position and a forwardly stowed position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automotive vehicles, especially minivans or sport utility vehicles, typically include two or three rows of seat assemblies for supporting occupants within an interior cabin and a rear cargo area adjacent and open to the interior cabin. It is known by those skilled in the art to provide a riser assembly operatively coupled between each seat assembly and the floor of the vehicle for providing movement of the seat assembly between seating and forwardly stowed or tumbled positions for extending the cargo carrying capacity of the rear cargo area into the interior cabin of the vehicle. The riser assembly typically includes front and rear legs or supports releasably latchable to striker bars fixedly secured to the vehicle floor. An example of such a riser assembly is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,555, which issued to Liu et al. on Oct. 24, 2000. However, such risers do not allow access under the seat assembly for storage. Further, the rear legs or supports are exposed when the seat assembly is moved to the forwardly stowed position.
Therefore, it remains desirable to provide a riser that allows access under the seat assembly to increase the cargo carrying capacity of the vehicle and conceals the rear legs or supports when the seat assembly is in the forwardly stowed position.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a seat assembly comprising a seat cushion for supporting an occupant seated on the seat assembly and having a bottom surface extending between front and rear portions. A seat back is operatively coupled to the seat cushion for selective pivotal movement. A first riser is fixedly secured to the floor of the vehicle and extends between the floor of the vehicle and the front portion of the bottom of the seat cushion. A second riser is fixedly secured to the floor of the vehicle spaced apart from the first riser and extends between the floor of the vehicle and the front portion of the bottom of the seat cushion. A support beam extends between the first and second risers spaced above the floor of the vehicle and is pivotally assembled to the front portion of the bottom surface of the seat cushion for pivotally supporting the seat assembly between a seating position for supporting the occupant and a forwardly stowed position with the seat cushion extending generally upright from the support beam. A pair of retractable support legs is operatively coupled to the rear portion of the bottom surface of the seat cushion for automatically pivoting between a support position extending between the seat cushion and the floor of the vehicle and a storage position against the bottom surface of the seat cushion in response to pivotal movement of the seat assembly about the support beam between the seating position and the forwardly stowed positions, respectively.